[pcpranav]

"Lets talk about Power" !!

have been ordering few things online, some are delivered.

a) Belkin 200W Car Inverter:
- cheapest I found was on flipkart (Rs.2195) - http://www.flipkart.com/belkin-ac-an...GDJR3MMJWVXKBN
- havnt opened the pack yet.
- noticed the mention of "Lifetime warranty".
- USB port mentioned is 500mA, which I dont think would charge any smartphone.

bit OT:

b) Portronics UFO 6 Port USB Charger:
- ordered from flipkart (Rs.890) : http://www.flipkart.com/portronics-p...me4vzfygqetdaf
- yet to be delivered

Actually I came across a USB Charging gadget (Orico) at http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/produc...ml#post3681463
the only negative I thought : it can only take input from 12v car socket, and cannot be used in home or during travels!

c) Car Socket 3-way splitter:
- got it from amazon (Rs.299) : http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00K...ilpage_o00_s01
- device is cheap, but serves the purpose.
- USB is 500mA, which can be ignored. (didnt charge my S3)

d) Dual USB Car Charger Adapter:
- got it from amazon (rs.445): http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00O...ilpage_o02_s00
- very good device, one port is fast charging


My Xylo already has built-in two 12v sockets.
Looks like making a decent "power transmission" setup!


regards,

[WorkingGuru]

Hi guys, I thought this post will be more apt here.

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

Hi guys, PayTM is selling the Belkin Car Inverter, and its effectively available for Rs.1,330/-...

Disclaimer : I'm not related to PayTM nor do I know the seller in any way. Just spreading the word on whats quite useful to regular travellers.

I think this is a great price since I bought it for ~2,000 last year on amazon. Its useful & is working brilliantly. Friends find it v useful to charge their laptops & phones while on the go!

Only thing is, we try to take a precaution not to crank the car with it plugged in. Most of the times nothing serious would happen but its best to have nothing else drawing power when cranking the car.

[pillainp]

Does the Belkin F5L071ak200W support fast charging for mobile phones?

I am thinking of buying this to use on my XUV500.

[Turbanator]

Does the Belkin F5L071ak200W support fast charging for mobile phones?

If you mean - does the USB port on this charger support fast charging? - then answer is NO

You can however connect your fast charger to AC output

[antihero]

Reliability: Been using the Belkin F5L071ak200W for the past 2 years in my Gypsy. No faults so far, despite being soaked numerous times. Charges my Laptop, runs airbed compressor and more. The USB can be ignored, better to plug in the 2.1A phone charger directly to AC output

[PM - B]

All

I have read all the posts in this thread.
I dont understand electricity :-) please do bear with me.

So need help and specific guidance from the experts here.

Looking for the economic probability of an electrical source without adding additional batttery / batteries.
NO BACKUP REQUIRED - Will this help - from the battery perspective - ENGINE Will be Running for the heavy load.
(Electrical Appliances - 1KW Kettle, Induction Stove - normal smaller load appliances naturally - battery chargers for phone, laptop, camera etc.)
(Dont want a gas cylinder & stove combination)
MAINLY Resistive Loads - for the heavy work.

Need - 1.0 KW to 1.5 KW Appliances in the Car

Have checked for readily available car inverters and could not find anything more than the 200W to 400W Range.
So got thinking, How about using a Home Pure Sine Wave Inverter?

So found the Su Kam Shiny & Falcon + range which have a 1400VA & 1600VA rating.
http://www.su-kam.com/power-solution...lcon-plus-plus
http://www.su-kam.com/power-solution...-sine-wave-ups

Wattage - What the adapter/Inverter will give out
Amperes - What the device connected to the adapter / inverter will draw.

Need - 1.0 KW to 1.5 KW Appliances in the Car

Hence total load at any given point
= 1000 W / 1KW - Have assumed the 1.0 KW load NOT the 1.5 KW

Inverter VA Rating - taking a 0.8 Power Factor (Resistive Load)
= 1000/0.8 = 1250 VA or to be super safe = 1000/.75 = 1333 VA

Alternatively for a 1.5KW load
= 1500/0.8 = 1875 VA or to be super safe = 1500/.75 = 2000 VA
The above Su Kam models wont support the 1.5KW loads.

1 hour of backup I would need 1333 or higher VAh - But we are not looking at Backup
This is just for the battery sizing

FOR 1KW - A car battery rated at 12 V, would need the Ah value = 1333 / 12 = 111 Ah
FOR 1.5KW - A car battery rated at 12 V, would need the Ah value = 2000 / 12 = 166 Ah

Where as the stock car battery is at most 60 Ah.

Questions

1. As mentioned earlier - The car engine will be running - when i connect a 1.0 KW / 1000 W appliance / load to the inverter - Hence does it matter that the battery that the inverter is connected is rated at HALF Ah as needed.

My understanding of the above is -

At 60 Ah - assuming the battery is fully charged - with the load at 1.0 KW, Power Factor of 0.75 and rating of 111 Ah battery - I should get a backup time of 32 minutes to drain the battery - WITHOUT the engine running.

Likewise

At 60 Ah - assuming the battery is fully charged - With a load of 1.5KW, Power Factor 0.75 and rating of 166 Ah battery - I should still be able to get 20 minutes of backup power before draining the battery - Without the engine running.

Certain Su Kam Home Inverters - allows one to choose smaller Ah batteries and adjust the backup time.

If the above is true - What would happen if i ran the same two scenarios with the ENGINE RUNNING.

2. If yes, how would i go about doing this.
3. Are there any caveats

[Turbanator]

3. Are there any caveats

In which car do you plan to use this setup . Most of newer cars have a complex circuitry and the kind of loads you are planning can cause issues and many of new cars won't have a high current output at the first place. If you take wires directly from Battery it will be a challenge not to damage alternator when you are running your appliances on full load.

[PM - B]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

In which car do you plan to use this setup . .

@ Turbanator

This is in a 2009 MJD Linea

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by PM - B

All

So need help and specific guidance from the experts here.

Looking for the economic probability of an electrical source without adding additional batttery / batteries.
NO BACKUP REQUIRED - Will this help - from the battery perspective - ENGINE Will be Running for the heavy load.
(Electrical Appliances - 1KW Kettle, Induction Stove - normal smaller load appliances naturally - battery chargers for phone, laptop, camera etc.)
(Dont want a gas cylinder & stove combination)
MAINLY Resistive Loads - for the heavy work.

Need - 1.0 KW to 1.5 KW Appliances in the Car


Questions

1. As mentioned earlier - The car engine will be running - when i connect a 1.0 KW / 1000 W appliance / load to the inverter - Hence does it matter that the battery that the inverter is connected is rated at HALF Ah as needed.

2. If yes, how would i go about doing this.
3. Are there any caveats

As they say for Perl Motto - TIMTOWTDI - There is more than one way to do it.

First of all 1 KW appliance ( ignoring the losses and efficiency here) will draw about 83 A from your alternator/Battery. Your alternator should have enough rating to supply this 83 A in addition to its normal load current. You are looking at at least an alternator capable of supplying 120 A or above - unlikely in your car.

Car electrical system is designed for the specific car needs + some additional capacity to supply ICE etc. Massive dips in the supply line can cause havoc with ECU.

You can add additional suitably rated Alternator and connect suitably rated extra battery and run your loads off this setup. It is a completely different circuit and hence will not affect the main car electrical system. Your engine will be expected to run at a minimum of 2000 rpm or above to supply the load.

If I were you, I would look for a portable gas stove to do the cooking. That takes away the major part of consumption of electrical power. It is far cheaper and less painful for the car.

[Aroy]

Unless you are going to use the appliance while he car is in motion, I think that it will be cheaper from at least fuel consumption point of view to get a small portable generator or 1.5KW or there about.

As explained a load of 1KW with associated losses of an inverter will entail at least 100A load on alternator, for which you will need to fix an additional alternator, if not an additional high AH battery. In modern car there may not be space enough in the engine compartment for an addition alternator or battery.

Your needs are basically what is there in an RV (Recreational Vehicle), so you can search the net for RV appliances and alternators.

[PM - B]

@ Prowler
@ Aroy

Thank you for the answers, clarifications.

Guess will have to go without the inverter.

I did read that the alternator in the car is rated in the region of 110A.
Which anyway is not sufficient.
Thought of using a lower yield 0.5KW heater - should suffice the alternator and battery critieria.

However have decided to go with pre cooked no heat required viands / victuals for now.

[Aroy]

In general using electricity for heating is more expensive than fossil fuel, unless electricity is dirt cheap.

In case of an Car/RV, you are converting Petrol/Diesel to electricity, from a source that is pretty inefficient (as far as fuel-electric conversion is concerned). Burning diesel or petrol in properly designed stove will consume less fuel.

[m3_07]

The Australian version of the Ford Everest provides 230VAC/ 150W socket.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/392313/2...erest-trend-8/

In India, many of the telecom engineers who are into mobile drive testing, have separate inverters in the boot of Indica. I believe those will have the ratings to power on induction stoves & kettles.

[S_U_N]

After more than 4 years, today, my Belkin power inverter stopped being useful.

The device has started showing me the overload warning and does not supply 220V AC power supply.
The fans inside are moving normally and the 5V DC USB out is working fine.

I tried to remove the fuse but it refuses to budge (though the fuse appears to be fine.

Are these units repairable?

[Ketan]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking forward to operate a couple of things while on road, 1> kettle for hot water, 2>small blender for smoothies, 3>Another kettle that can be used for pastas/soup etc..

I'm trying to drop #3 as that device is rated as 1200watts, I'm already using #1 that is from the tropicool, for years and its working just fine.
I have got the 300watts inverter from tropicool and its working fine for notebook/phone charging and anything for that capacity.
I'm trying to add the ability to use #2 which is rated at 400watts. I'm looking forward to add the other inverter from tropicool (below) that allows 1000watt devices, but seems it needs 24v dc input. While I understand the car battery will provide on 12v dc.
Any ideas how to achieve the 24v dc input if I'm planning to use this device on road trips??
http://tropicoolindia.com/product/10...inverter-24-v/
TiA